So glad you can join me for today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Adam R. Holes wrote today's reading, and he titled it Excelsior.

Sometimes, surprisingly spiritual messages turn up in unexpected places, like in a comic book, for example.

Marvel Comics publisher, Stan Lee, passed away in 2018, leaving behind a legacy of such

iconic heroes as Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Fantastic Four, the Hulk, and many others.

The famously smiling man with sunglasses

had a personal catchphrase that he used to sign off

in monthly columns and Marvel Comics for decades.

The word excelsior.

In a 2010 tweet, Lee explained its meaning,

Upward and onward to greater glory.

That's what I wish you whenever I finish tweeting, Excelsior. I like that. Whether Stan Lee realized it or not, his use of this unusual phrase

certainly resonates with what Paul wrote in Philippians, as he admonished believers to look

not behind, but ahead and up.

But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

We can easily become entangled in regrets or second-guessing past decisions, but in Christ,

we're invited to relinquish regrets and to press upward and onward to God's greater glory

through embracing the forgiveness and purpose he so graciously gives us.

Excelsior! Thank you. the forgiveness and purpose he so graciously gives us. Excellior.

The scripture reading for today's devotional is from Philippians chapter 3,

verses 12 through 21.

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